Tamera Darvette Mowry-Housley (née Mowry) () (born July 6, 1978) is an American actress, television personality, and former singer. She first gained fame for her teen role as Tamera Campbell on the ABC/ WB sitcom '' Sister, Sister'' (opposite her twin sister Tia Mowry). She has also starred in the

Disney Channel Original Movie Since its launch on April 18, 1983, American cable and satellite pay television channel Disney Channel airs and/or releases/distributes original first-run television films under the banner names of Disney Channel Premiere Films until October 1 ...

'' Twitches'' and its sequel, ''

Twitches Too ''Twitches Too'' is a 2007 American fantasy drama film released as a Disney Channel Original Movie. It is the sequel to the Disney Channel Original Movie '' Twitches'', released in 2005. The film began production in late April 2007 and was rele ...

'', and played Dr. Kayla Thornton on the medical drama ''

Strong Medicine ''Strong Medicine'' is an American medical drama with a focus on feminist politics, health issues and class conflict that aired on the Lifetime network from 2000 to 2006. It was created and produced in part by Whoopi Goldberg, who made cam ...

''. She next starred in a

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

series following her and her twin sister's lives, titled '' Tia & Tamera'', which began airing on the

Style Network Esquire Network was an American pay television network that was a 50/50 joint venture between NBCUniversal and the Hearst Corporation. Launched on October 1, 1998 as Style Network, a spin-off of E!, the channel initially consisted of fashion, ...

in 2011 and ended in 2013 after three seasons. From 2013 to 2020, Mowry was one of the co-hosts of the syndicated daytime talk show ''

The Real In continental philosophy, the Real refers to reality in its unmediated form. In Lacanian psychoanalysis, it is an "impossible" category because of its inconceivability and opposition to expression. In depth psychology The Real is the ...

'' originally alongside Adrienne Bailon,

Tamar Braxton Tamar Estine Braxton (born March 17, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. Braxton began her career in 1990 as a founding member of The Braxtons, an R&B singing group formed with her sisters. The Braxtons r ...

, Loni Love and Jeannie Mai. She was on the

Hallmark Channel Hallmark Channel is an American cable television network owned by Hallmark Media, a subsidiary of Hallmark Cards. The channel broadcasts family-oriented general entertainment programming, including television series and made-for-TV movies. ...

show '' lost & found'' until its cancellation in August 2021.

Early life

Tamera Darvette Mowry was born in

Gelnhausen Gelnhausen () is a town, and the capital of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located approximately 40 kilometers east of Frankfurt am Main, between the Vogelsberg mountains and the Spessart range at the river Kinzig (Main), Kinzig. ...

in then-

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

on July 6, 1978, to Darlene Renee Mowry (née Flowers), who later became her children's manager, and Timothy John Mowry, who became a custody officer/jailer with the City of Glendale Police Department when the family moved to California.Tia, Tamera And Tahj Mowry Keep Laughter In The Family With Hit TV Shows 'Sister, Sister' And 'Smart Guy'
". Findarticles.com (March 1, 1999). Retrieved on 2012-07-06. She also has two younger brothers: actor Tahj Mowry and musician Tavior Mowry. Her father has British and Irish ancestry and her mother is of

Afro-Bahamian Afro-Bahamians are an ethnicity originating in the Bahamas of predominantly or partial native African descent. They are descendants of various African ethnic groups, many associated with the Bight of Biafra, Ghana, Songhai and Mali, the various ...

descent. Mowry's parents met in high school, in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, both joining the U.S. Army and eventually reaching the rank of sergeant. Mowry has described her family as being both "close-knit" and "deeply religious," noting that the sisters became born-again Christians when they were eight years old.

Career

Music

Mowry and her sister, Tia, joined an R&B singing group in the early 1990s called Voices. The group debuted their first single, "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!", in 1992 and it charted at No. 72 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Mowry's mom Darlene removed the twins from the group after a disagreement with management prior to the release of their debut album. Mowry provided guest vocals on Jerome Wiggins' single "I Will", which was released on December 4th, 2012.

Television

At the age of 12, the twins convinced their mother to move to California with them so they could pursue acting. She agreed, on the condition that they land an acting job within the first month of their stay. In 1990, their family moved to California permanently, settling in Los Angeles, and she and her sister began appearing in commercials and small roles. Mowry and her twin sister, Tia, co-starred as the main characters in '' Sister, Sister'', a television show that aired from 1994 through 1999. Starring the two girls, Tamera Mowry played Tamera Campbell, who was adopted and separated from birth away from her twin sister. The show kickstarts from where the twins meet coincidentally in the mall. The comedy TV show shows the two sisters combining worlds with their adopted parents combining households. Tia, her twin, is intelligent and from inner-city Detroit while Tamera is the boy-crazy twin from the suburbs. Tamera and Tia worked in the 2005

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

film '' Twitches''. In 2013, Mowry became a co-host of the syndicated daytime talk show ''

'' alongside Adrienne Bailon,

, Loni Love, Jeannie Mai. After premiering on July 15, ''The Real'' was picked up to series the following year. In 2018, Mowry and her co-hosts won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host for their work. In July 2020, Mowry announced that after six seasons she would be leaving the show. She returned to the show as a guest on December 8, 2020, that same day, Mowry joined ''

Home & Family ''Home & Family'' (formerly ''The Home and Family Show'') is an American daytime talk show. The series originally premiered on April 1, 1996, on The Family Channel, and was dropped by the network immediately prior to its 1998 relaunch as the Fo ...

'' as a new family member on the show, succeeding Paige Hemmis. In 2021, Mowry competed in season 5 of '' The Masked Singer'' as "Seashell". She was eliminated on Week 7 alongside

Bobby Brown Robert Barisford Brown Sr. (born February 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and dancer. Alongside frequent collaborator Teddy Riley, he is recognized as a pioneer of new jack swing: a fusion of hip-hop and Contemporary R&B, R ...

as "Crab". This show also revived Tamera being a singer. In the same year, it was announced that Mowry and former White House Executive Pastry Chef

Bill Yosses William Yosses (born ) is an American chef who is best known as co-author of the book '' Desserts For Dummies'' and for being the White House Executive Pastry Chef from 2007 to 2014. Yosses was the owner of the pastry company Perfect Pie, which ...

would be hosting ''Baker's Dozen'', a baking competition show for

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

. Throughout 2021-2024 Mowry has starred in various holiday and non holiday

Hallmark A hallmark is an official Mark (sign), mark or series of marks struck on items made of metal, mostly to certify the content of noble metals—such as platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium. In a more general sense, the term ''Wikti ...

movies such as, ''The Santa Stakeout'', ''Girlfriendship'', ''Inventing The Christmas Prince'', and ''Haunted Harmony Mysteries: Murder in G Major.''

Other ventures

Mowry and her twin sister, Tia, started a project called Need Brand as they entered motherhood. Milky! and Stretchy! are two of the products that can cater to motherhood. Milky! is a 2.5 oz. bottle with all organic ingredients that can help mothers produce milk. Stretchy! is a stretch mark cream for post-operation scars. Another sibling project of theirs was a four-book series called ''Twintuition: Double Vision'' and ''Twintuition: Double Trouble''. She signed an overall deal with Crown Media in 2020.

Personal life

On May 15, 2011, after almost six years of dating, she married

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

correspondent Adam Housley, in California's

Napa Valley Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in Napa County, California. The area was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on February 27, 1981, after a 1978 petition submitted by the Napa Valley Vin ...

. Their first child, son Aden, was born on November 12, 2012. Their second child, daughter Ariah, was born on July 1, 2015. The couple owns a home in

, near his family's bus terminal. The couple's niece Alaina Maria Housley was among the victims of the

mass shooting A mass shooting is a violent crime in which one or more attackers use a firearm to Gun violence, kill or injure multiple individuals in rapid succession. There is no widely accepted specific definition, and different organizations tracking su ...

at the Borderline Bar and Grill in

Thousand Oaks, California Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, located in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles. Approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, it is named after the many oak trees pr ...

, on November 7, 2018. According to the 22 April 2025 episode of

Finding Your Roots ''Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'' is an American documentary television series hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr. that premiered on March 25, 2012, on PBS. In each episode, celebrities are presented with a "book of life" that is com ...

, William Brewster, a passenger on the ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English sailing ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, reac ...

'' who became the senior elder of the

Plymouth Colony Plymouth Colony (sometimes spelled Plimouth) was the first permanent English colony in New England from 1620 and the third permanent English colony in America, after Newfoundland and the Jamestown Colony. It was settled by the passengers on t ...

, is the 13th great-grandfather of Mowry.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Awards and nominations

Daytime Emmy Award

NAACP Image Award

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award

People's Choice Award

Teen Choice Award

Young Artist Award

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mowry, Tamera 1978 births Living people 20th-century African-American actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century African-American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Hesse African-American child actresses African-American Christians African-American television talk show hosts American child actresses American film actresses American identical twin child actors American people of Bahamian descent American people of Irish descent American television actresses American television talk show hosts American twins American voice actresses Identical twin actresses Participants in American reality television series People from Gelnhausen Pepperdine University alumni Voices (group) members